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Updated: Apr 26, 2026
Author Spotlight: A Multi-Depth Porcine Model for Comprehensive Study of Burn Injuries and Healing Processes
Published on: February 23, 2024
Outcomes of outpatient management of pediatric burns
Matthew Brown1, Tammy Coffee, Paul Adenuga
1From the *Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio; †MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio; ‡School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio; and §Burn Center and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship, MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Insights
Outpatient care effectively treats most pediatric burns, showing low complication rates. This approach is validated for children with appropriate burn size and home support, making it a standard of care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric surgery
- Burn care management
- Wound healing
Background:
- Existing literature on pediatric burns primarily focuses on inpatient management.
- There is a need to characterize and validate outpatient burn care for children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the pediatric outpatient burn population.
- To assess the outcomes of pediatric burn care managed in an outpatient setting.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 953 pediatric patients treated at a tertiary care center's burn clinic and unit.
- Data collected included patient demographics, burn etiology, characteristics, mechanism, referral patterns, wound care, and outcomes (admission, infection, scarring, surgery).
Main Results:
- 830 children were treated as outpatients, with scalds (53%) and hand/wrist burns being most common.
- Outpatient cohort: mean Total Body Surface Area (TBSA) 1.4%, healing time 13.4 days, 1% subsequent admissions, 0.4% infection concerns.
- Inpatient cohort: mean TBSA 8%; 8 outpatient patients required excision and grafting.
Conclusions:
- The majority of pediatric burns are small but can affect critical areas like the face and hand.
- Outpatient wound care is an effective strategy for pediatric burns, yielding low complication rates.
- Outpatient care should be the standard for children with suitable burn size and adequate home support.
Abstract:
The literature surrounding pediatric burns has focused on inpatient management. The goal of this study is to characterize the population of burned children treated as outpatients and assess outcomes validating this method of burn care. A retrospective review of 953 patients treated the burn clinic and burn unit of a tertiary care center. Patient age, burn etiology, burn characteristics, burn mechanism, and referral pattern were recorded. The type of wound care and incidence of outcomes including subsequent hospital admission, infection, scarring, and surgery served as the primary outcome data. Eight hundred and thirty children were treated as outpatients with a mean time of 1.8 days for the evaluation of burn injury in our clinic. Scalds accounted for 53% of the burn mechanism, with burns to the hand/wrist being the most frequent area involved. The mean percentage of TBSA was 1.4% for the outpatient cohort and 8% for the inpatient cohort. Burns in the outpatient cohort healed with a mean time of 13.4 days. In the outpatient cohort, nine (1%) patients had subsequent admissions and three (0.4%) patients had concern for infection. Eight patients from the outpatient cohort were treated with excision and grafting. The vast majority of pediatric burns are small, although they may often involve more critical areas such as the face and hand. Outpatient wound care is an effective treatment strategy which results in low rates of complications and should become the standard of care for children with appropriate burn size and home support.
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